Great Grads - Arielle Elmaleh-Sachs

BS, Biomedical Science

Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education

Raised in New York by socially conscious parents – her mother is a physician; her father an environmental engineer employed by the city – Class of 2014 Valedictorian Arielle Elmaleh-Sachs developed a strong interest in advocacy and social justice.

At City College’s Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, she complemented her medical studies with research in health policy and health disparities, particularly around marginalized communities. She believes her education has given her the skills, enthusiasm and knowledge that will enable her to become a physician committed to addressing the needs of her patients and of their communities.

Her achievements and honors, which include the Colin Powell Leadership and Service Fellowship and the Mack Lipkin Broader Horizons Fellowship, reflect that. As a Lipkin Fellow, she spent last summer in Paris working on a national study on the care of HIV-HCV co-infected patients.

In 2011, when she served as co-president and treasurer of Physicians for a National Health Program, she led 11 medical student volunteers to a clinic in Nashville, Tenn. They helped treat 1,300 patients over two days.

Ms. Elmaleh-Sachs will graduate with a 3.96 GPA and enter NYU School of Medicine this December. She also hopes to get a Master of Public Health so that she can pursue more effectively her interest in improving access to quality health care.

She thanks her parents for instilling in her a strong sense of public service. She is also grateful to CCNY for a wonderful education and her professors and peers for an incredibly inspiring and supportive experience.

“I have had such an amazing experience here,” she said. “CCNY is a university that offers so many opportunities for academic and personal growth within a very rich and diverse community. I feel so fortunate to have been a part of it.”